The average price of electricity in the wholesale market will drop 27.2% this Saturday, Christmas Day, compared to the price on Friday, to 226.42 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), which is the first time that it has decreased. of the level of 230 euros in two weeks.

For Christmas Eve, the price of electricity already registered a decrease of 19% but still remained above 300 euros. Now, with this new drop, the light leaves behind the last two weeks of continuous increases and consecutive records, accumulating a fall of almost 50% between Christmas Eve and Christmas.

In any case, the cost of electricity in the wholesale market continues to skyrocket when compared with the records of the same day of the previous year. At Christmas last year, the price was limited to 16.04 euros / MWh, so the increase is 1,312%, that is, now it is up to 14 times more expensive than a year ago.

The demand is lower as it is a holiday

As it is a holiday, in this case in a large part of the world, the demand is much lower – companies and other large consumers close – which explains why the price drops. However, despite being Christmas, it will be one of the most expensive days in history. Compared to the same Saturday last week, when it was at 306 euros, the price of electricity fell by 26%, according to data published by the Iberian Energy Market Operator (OMIE) and collected by Europa Press.

The maximum price of electricity for this Saturday will be between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., with 315.12 euros / MWh, while the minimum price will be 125.31 euros between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. pool ‘have a direct impact on the regulated tariff -the so-called PVPC-, to which almost 11 million consumers in the country are welcomed, and serves as a reference for the other 17 million who have contracted their supply in the free market.

The rise in prices in the electricity market in recent months is mainly explained by high gas prices in the markets and carbon dioxide (CO2) emission rights, at record highs this year.

December exceeds 260 euros / MWh on average

December began as a month marked by great volatility, with falls in the average of some days to around 100 euros / MWh and with certain rises that far exceeded the level of 200 euros / MWh and, since December 16 , 300 euros / MWh.

The rising cost of electricity has run wild and the average monthly price now exceeds 260 euros, that is, about 60 euros more than last October, the month with the most expensive average to date.

Extension of tax rebates

On Tuesday, the Government extended until April 30 the reduction of taxes included in the electricity bill paid by all consumers, in order to alleviate the negative effect that the rise in the price of electricity is causing on citizens .

Specifically, the reductions from 21% to 10% of VAT and the special electricity tax from 5.11% to 0.5%, the legal minimum, were extended until April 30. However, the suspension of the 7% generation tax paid by companies will only be maintained, for now, until March 31.